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Monday, May 26, 2014

To swag, or not to swag

To this point in my career I have never once given out swag.

That has nothing to do with not wanting to, and everything to do with remaining largely clueless on the value of swag.

My sister (and webmistress and critic and all around good guy) keeps telling me I should offer swag and I'm considering it for THE BLASTED LANDS, but I also have to consider the cost to advantage ratio. I'm hitting three cons this year and they cost money to attend, you see, and I'm also exceedingly fond of having a roof over my head, so that's a consideration I can't ignore.

So I'm really very interested ins hat everyone else has to say about the benefits of swag. And don't be too surprised if I ask a few people where they get their swag made, because, you know, you never know.

Speaking of THE BLASTED LANDS, here's an example of what I normally do in place of swag: Here's a free story and just for grins, here's the first few chapters of the book for you to view at your leisure online.

The story took me a few hours. I value those hours as they could have gone to the next project, but I also truly value the chance to catch a reader's eye and maybe make someone seriously consider looking at my published works.

I write fiction, a little of everything and a lot of horror. I've written novels, comic books, roleplaying game supplements, short stories, novellas and oodles of essays on whatever strikes my fancy. That might change depending on my mood and the publishing industry. Things are getting stranger and stranger in the wonderful world of publishing and that means I get to have fun sorting through the chaos (with all the other writer-types). I have a website. This isn't it. This is where you can likely expect me to talk about upcoming projects and occasionally expect a rant or two. Not too many rants. Those take a lot of energy. In addition to writing I work as a barista, because I still haven't decided to quit my day job. Opinions are always welcome.

2 comments:

The perfect swag for you would be a business card or small bookmark with one of those smart phone scan square thingys that will take the reader to your free story or chapters. The card can have your cover and the back says "try a sample" or "a free story for you". Just a thought :) I would also put your website on there too